Lovely Linearity

Long, lean lines were all the rage inside the 1939 LaSalle

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News

Harley Earl's La Salles were always design-driven, by design. As junior Cadillacs, they were near the very top of the General Motors brand hierarchy, and they backed up their premium pricing with leading-edge styling unlike any other division's, illustrating how GM's Art & Colour Section was in touch with the modern aesthetic. 1940 would be the last year of La Salle production, and while those La Salles enjoyed a minor exterior refresh, their stylish instrument panels were primarily carried over from the extensively new, iconic 1939 Series 50 models.
Through the mid-1930s, La Salle automobiles featured symmetrically designed dashboards accented with circular instrumentation. A linear theme began to assert itself in 1936, when the large speedometer and clock, flanking the center of the panel, were joined by four horizontal gauges set in two strips to the steering wheel's left. The entire panel was adorned with horizontal strips of decorative bright trim, and for 1937, those horizontal trim strips were turned vertically and clustered around the round gauges. A large central radio speaker panel with fine horizontal lines dominated the 1938 La Salle's dashboard, while the formerly circular speedometer and clock were now square; the shift to near-total linearity would happen the next year.
The 1939 La Salles sported shorter wheelbases and more slender-appearing bodies, accented by a unique tall and narrow radiator grille. Similar to the vertical fender "catwalk" openings that flanked it, that grille featured thin horizontal bars, as did the hood side trim, and that texture was cleverly echoed in the bright metal radio speaker grille in the center of the dashboard. Running the entire width of the walnut-grained steel dash, atop the speaker grille, was a narrow, brightly trimmed glass strip that housed the instruments (grouped in front of the driver), radio dial (in the center of the dash) and the clock (in front of the passenger).
With white numerals painted inside the glass and white pointers over a gray-brown background, these backlit instruments appeared three-dimensional. From left to right, the instruments in front of the driver were the engine temperature gauge, electric fuel gauge, the strip speedometer (incorporating the standard and trip odometer), battery charge gauge and oil pressure gauge. Centered above two vertical Bakelite dials in the radiator grille--left controlling volume, right for tuning channel selection--was the AM radio readout. The electric clock, situated above the glovebox release, had a small adjustment, visible in the face, to speed up or slow down the mechanism as needed.
A number of smaller controls were fitted around the bottom of the dash; the handbrake was located under the dash at the far left. The three-speed manual transmission was shifted by a long lever on the right side of the steering column. Incorporated into the base of the radio speaker grille were six Bakelite tabs: the THROTTLE tab was a pull; the INST LIGHTS tab indicated the location of the light switch below it; the STARTER tab was a push-button used after turning the ignition key; the tabs marked ASH and TRAY were actually joined together, and slid out with the receptacle as a unit; and the LIGHTER tab pushed in to actuate the electric cigarette lighter. The factory-optional heater, branded "Cadillac," was mounted on the firewall below the dash, over the transmission hump.
The owner of our feature car, Jack Carroll, is a retired AMC stylist and graphic designer whose design training makes him uniquely qualified to evaluate his La Salle. "I like clean design, and I like Deco design," he says. "I realize that can be a contradiction, but this car is clean and straightforward outside, and the GM designers did a good job of integrating the inside and outside design elements--it's more harmonious than in most other cars."

This article originally appeared in the August, 2012 issue of Hemmings Motor News.